Teenagers face a life of crime without Asbos, Róisín Shortall warns

The number of antisocial behaviour orders has declined since 2010GETTY IMAGES

The use of antisocial behaviour orders to tackle juvenile crime has dropped significantly.

The number of Asbos — otherwise known as behaviour warnings — issued by gardaí fell by more than 85 per cent in the past decade.

The data, issued in response to a parliamentary question from Róisín Shortall, the Social Democrats co-leader, showed that 71 Asbos were issued nationwide last year. Only two out of 28 garda divisions issued more than ten Asbos during 2017 — Dublin North-Central and Limerick — accounting for more than half of the total.

Asbos are virtually unused by gardaí in large parts of the country including border counties, the southeast, the west and mid-Leinster, excluding Dublin. Their use has now declined every year since they peaked in…

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